Hundreds bid emotional farewell to Siachen bravehearts in TN

Updated: Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 16:27 [IST]

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Madurai/Theni, Feb 16: Hundreds of people today bid emotional farewell to Siachen bravehearts G Ganesan and S Kumar, whose last rites were performed with full state honours at Chokkathevanpatti in Madurai and Kumanan Kuzhu in Theni districts respectively.

While Sepoy Ganesan (25) was cremated at Chokkathevanpatti, Havildar Kumar (37) was buried at Kumanankuzhu. The atmosphere at the funeral was highly emotional with friends, relatives and locals bidding tearful farewell.

Jawans carry the bodies of soldiers who died in an avalanche in Siachen glacier, after they were brought at Air Force Station, Palam in New Delhi.

District Collectors of Madurai and Theni - Veeraraghava Rao and Venkatachalam respectively - handed over cheques of Rs 10 lakh each to the bereaved families, the solatium announced by the state government.

The government has also assured job to one family member of the two deceased soldiers. Ganesan, Kumar and eight other soldiers, including Havildar M Elumalai of Vellore and Sepoy N Ramamurthy from Krishnagiri of Tamil Nadu, got buried in snow after an avalanche hit their high-altitude post in Siachen glacier in Ladakh on February 3.

One of them, Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, found alive under the snow, also died on February 11 after battling for life.